The Swampoodle Trilogy
The Irish love a good story and here’s the whole of it, three tales all done in a set - Swampoodle (1936), St. Patrick’s Day (1968) and Mount Olivet (1993). If you’ve ever wondered how it all happened here, the Irish in America, here’s your chance. A wondrous gift to yourself, and all those you’ll want to share it with.
The Swampoodle Trilogy
Swampoodle
The Life and Times of Jack Hennessey
Swampoodle - It’s May 1936 and Jack Hennessey’s life is closing. An infant refugee of the Great Famine, he is determined that his life’s work, Hennessey Construction, survive him for those he leaves behind, firstly Paddy Riley, a son in all things but blood. As each day of his final week unfolds, Jack comes to a deeper sense of life’s meaning. His is a tale of life over loss, one lived to the full as the Capitol City goes through boom and bust, from the Civil War to the Great Depression. You’ll want to share this remarkable character with all those you cherish.
St. Patrick’s Day
A Love Story
St. Patrick’s Day is the story of the Rileys of Chevy Chase, Maryland. It follows Paddy’s widow, Mary, and his best friend, Fr. Joseph Hara, over the course of the St. Patrick’s Day weekend of 1968. Opening amid the preparations for her annual St. Patrick’s Day party, Mary struggles with an estrangement from her daughter, Mary Kate, and a grandson’s autism. Weighing heavily on Joe Hara is a Sunday homily that will not come. A young parishioner has been killed in Vietnam and he must speak of the war. St. Patrick’s Day explorers the many faces of love as its characters overcome the scars of past discrimination and personal loss to find purpose and fulfillment, all nudged along by a bitter sweet-miracle.
Mount Olivet
The Rising
Mount Olivet takes place in the September of 1993. The Rileys have prospered, their successes coming by a simple credo – you are what you do, what you get done. From Iwo Jima in WW II, through bust and boom, illness and heartache, they take what comes and make the best of it. Through it all, John Riley, CEO of Hennessey Construction, comes to a deeper understanding of the life values he and the others have taken from their heritage. Most directly in this is the counsel of his mother, Mary, whose presence and strength draw on her appreciation of love as a life force and the faith that brought her to it.